Pacman Wins, VP de Castro pats him on the back
After the first seemingly uneventful rounds at the Mandalay Bay, Pacman finally scored his first blow to Barrera in the 3rd round amidst the rowdy Filipino crowd chanting his name. It wasn’t as exciting as his other fights, but I can see my Dad moving up and about his seat as he watched the Pambansang Kamao dance inside the ring with his signature fast jabs and hard-hitting hooks. After 11 rounds into the fight, it was already obvious who the winner will be: the Mexicans have lost their steam shouting Barrera’s name, the commentators were already giving out praises for Pacman’s energy and tenacity and the Pinoys were already jumping, shouting and skipping for Pacman to KO his opponent. Everyone knew yet no one blinked for even a second. Even Barrera’s foul punch didn’t seem to set Pacman off: he was restrained and everyone could see just how composed he was. In the end, Pacman won by unanimous decision: everyone expected that. But honestly, the biggest surprise for me was seeing the country’s VP, Noli de Castro, give Manny that extra ‘political congratulatory pat on the back’ after the official announcement. I was irked. Is this a sign that we will see more of Pacman in future Philippine elections?
Let It Go
(cross-posted from my blog)
It is the Tao of the schoolyard: the best way to deal with the bully is not to stand up to him, but to walk away. It is not cowardice or self-preservation, but a matter of denying the bully his power. It is a matter of being bigger than the bully, of being more capable than he will ever be in letting it go.
“It,” to the Filipino nation today, is the “Desperate Housewives” issue. As of this writing, a troop of Filipino healthcare professionals are protesting outside the ABC Studios in New York demanding more than an apology for how they were “demeaned.” It’s just like a schoolyard: only the game is played in cyberspace. Everywhere from YouTube and online petition services, we see some Filipinos rising up in indignation… or maybe something to that degree.
Master Yoda says that anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering. We have now come to that point where anger over Teri Hatcher is slowly metamorphosing into hatred, and in many cases, sheer anti-Americanism. One need only see a protester outside the ABC Studios bearing a placard with the word “bigot” in it.
I cannot blame the Filipino: 300 years of being considered second-class human beings by colonizers have led us to believe that we should also extract our pound of flesh. Restitution in the Philippines has always been equated with retribution, and justice is put at the same level as revenge. It’s the same everyday story of the schoolyard bully: a man murdering his father’s killer, the demand that Joseph Estrada go to jail, Joey de Leon demanding that Willie Revillame apologize for the umpteenth time. The “Desperate Housewives” protest is just another one of those things where the blinding flash of anger becomes a heavy burden. The only way to get rid of a burden is to let it go.
As long as we keep weeping – and weeping – and dwelling – and dwelling – over the “racist remark” made in “Desperate Housewives,” we will never leave the schoolyard. The boy who stands up for his manhood in the schoolyard stands up to the actuality of a busted nose, a bloodied lip, and a black eye. It is not cowardice to walk away and let go: it is cowardice to stay in the schoolyard trying to pick a fight when you only win in the schoolyard of your dreams.
Any person who has had an experience with a bully in the schoolyard will know that you cannot expect an apology or anything more when you stand up to him. To be above the bully, though, means to do something a bully can never do: walk away and let it go. As long as you’re in the schoolyard, you can never defeat the bully. To deny the bully his power means to fight him where he can’t fight back: where the strength of your character far surpasses the strength of his fist.
Pacquiao Won But…
I just finished watching the rematch of Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao against Marco Antonio “Baby Face Assasin” Barerra live via sattelite at SM Cinema. As expected, Manny won the fight, unfortunately, it was not via knockout but unanimous decision.
I thought this was a boring and dirty fight courtesy of Barerra. Barerra’s battle plan is not to engage but to hit and run, thus, it became boring. And when Barerra is about to be knocked down, Barerra hit Pacquiao with a hook while the referee is trying to break them up. This cost Barerra a point deduction. He also suffered a bad cut under his right eye.
Herewith are lessons to learn that I thought can be applicable either to our work or life
Sci-fi: Lose a job, get a job
Have you ever been fired because of boredom?I have, and I’m not proud of it, and that’s a story that I’d talk about some other day. But I can relate with these Japanese guys who have been reprimanded for contributing to Gundam’s wikipedia entry. 260 times. Using the Japanese ministry of agriculture’s computers.
Reminds me of the memo the DENR issued to their employees. The subject? Accessing Friendster during office hours.
Fortunately sometimes both sci-fi and Friendster have their legitimate uses in business. Some businesses actually use Friendster (or more commonly, MySpace, and more recently, Facebook) to market their products. And a guy actually used his obsession for Star Wars costumes to get a job:
Beyonce Live in Manila – Nov 7
Super sexy R&B diva, Beyonce Knowles will be performing here in Manila, Philippines live on November 7, 2007. Rawwr!!!
This is part of her “Beyonce Experience” tour.
The concert will be at The Fort in Taguig.
For more information, please visit ticketworld. So, November’s going to be hot.
